Coming off of a tough loss to Windsor last weekend, the Golden Hawks showed they were determined to come out this weekend and end the semester on a high note.
It started Friday night with Laurier handily beating the Laurentian Voyageurs with an 83-57 win, where the Voyageurs proved to be no match against the relentless Hawks.
Saturday night, it was the Nipissing Lakers’ turn.
Laurier opened up the game with a 14-2 run in the first 4:20 of the game before Lakers coach, Marg Jones, decided to take a timeout. The Lakers never got within 10 points of the Hawks from there on.
Nothing seemed to be able to slow down the Hawks, momentum that night. They finished out the first quarter with a 13-point lead, stifling the Lakers on defence, picking up 7 steals in the quarter alone and shooting 60 per cent from the field.
The second quarter was more of the same. The Hawks managed to push their lead even further as they continued their strong defensive play, not allowing the Lakers to get into any sort of rhythm. By halftime, the Lakers only had four players on the scoreboard as Laurier finished the half on a 12-1 run and a 47-26 lead.
In the third quarter, things just continued to go downhill for Nipissing as the Golden Hawks managed to keep them in check allowing them to bring the deficit to under 20 points, and increased their largest lead to 26. The Hawks managed to get five steals and eight points off turnovers in the quarter, as they finished the quarter up 68-45.
The fourth quarter was not much different for Laurier, as they put up 26 points in the quarter with 11 coming from Brianna Iannazzo. They went on a 10-0 run from the 5:26 mark to the 3:43 mark, pushing the lead to 34 and the game ending with a final score of 94-62.
The story of the game for the purple and gold was the total team effort put forth.
There were four players in double digits, Iannazzo leading the way with 20 points off the bench. The Hawks managed to get 41 points from their bench, as well. They also continued their hot streak from their last game, shooting 45 per cent from the field, 37.5 per cent from distance and 72 per cent from the free throw line.
“Well … we offensively shot the ball well, shared the ball well,” head coach Paul Falco said.
“A lot of times, we made the extra pass to find an open shooter and our shooters were ready and this weekend, we were knocking down a lot of those shots which I hope we can do, so that was positive when you look at our last 80 minutes of basketball.”
Falco also commented on the teamwork they displayed.
“We know that Kaitlyn and Nicole are our leaders but they can’t do it alone,” he said.
“And we’ve had good support from a number of different people and different people have stepped up on different days to contribute offensively and defensively and the same thing at the other end on rebounding, so if we can get that, we’re a lot tougher team to play when you have contributions from a group.”
For Nipissing, it was a tough go from start to finish.
Leading the way for them was Jamie Soffer, as she had a strong game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for the night. She put her team on her back for much of the game, but just could not manage to bring the team back on her own.
Nipissing was not able to take advantage of the opportunities they got and struggled to hit shots, especially from distance, only making 3 of 24 attempts.
Next up is a home game against the Carleton Ravens on Jan. 6 as the Hawks will look to grab their first win of the New Year.